GCW Zero - Open Source Gaming Handheld

[Nintendo]

My bad specs where wrote up when dual soc experiment was tried fixed it now

I noticed that, thanks for fixing.

 

[DJRoby4]

I can translate the whole system in italian if you want gcw... just contact me!

 

[mcobit]

If possible in any way, I'd go for a 640x480 pixel resolution screen. A lot more software will be easily portable without too much modifications.

 

[gruso]

^ That's what struck me when I looked at the specs. It's a shame to see the same old 320x240 resolution on such a capable looking machine. I recall a very old thread where Craig mentioned one of the original ideas for the Pandora was 640x480, but the LCDs were too hard to source. Don't know if that's still the case.

 

[Nintendo]

Yeah, 640x480 would be the go.

 

[slaeshjag]

^ That's what struck me when I looked at the specs. It's a shame to see the same old 320x240 resolution on such a capable looking machine. I recall a very old thread where Craig mentioned one of the original ideas for the Pandora was 640x480, but the LCDs were too hard to source. Don't know if that's still the case.

We'll, the OpenMoko uses small 640x480 displays, so at least they exist. If they cost a fortune even in quantity, I don't know.

 

[Saber]

Yeah, 640x480 would be the go.

I'm no resolution expert, but wouldn't it yield little gain to bump it to 640x480(307200 pixels vs 76800 pixels on 320x240) for classic gaming. What I mean is, native resolutions on those consoles with few exceptions(even N64) breached the 320x240 barrier, so why take the battery hit to emulate four times as many extra pixels on a small 3.5" panel when there is TV/HDMI-Out to smooth it up? For videos I see the benefit, but for playing old games on the go, for which this GCW Zero is specifically made for, I don't. :huh:

 

[gibberish]

For Dosbox 640x480 would be useful. Also, many PS1 and N64 games produce text that is unreadable on 320x240 screens.

 

[gruso]

The advantage of 640x480 is that you can simply 2x scale games that best fit into 320x240, giving the exact same look and fit (just like we do on the Pandora). But you also have the extra resolution on tap for DOSBox as gibberish mentioned, along with all sorts of Linux ports and all the usual Windows classics - Doom, Quake, Warcraft, Free Heroes, UrQuan, etc etc. If (getting hypothetical) Qemu happened to be ported and running well, think Fallout, Starcraft, Diablo etc.


We've seen a lot of these things on GPH and Dingoo handhelds, always compromised by the low resolution.

 

[Saber]

For Dosbox 640x480 would be useful. Also, many PS1 and N64 games produce text that is unreadable on 320x240 screens.

The advantage of 640x480 is that you can simply 2x scale games that best fit into 320x240, giving the exact same look and fit (just like we do on the Pandora). But you also have the extra resolution on tap for DOSBox as gibberish mentioned, along with all sorts of Linux ports and all the usual Windows classics - Doom, Quake, Warcraft, Free Heroes, UrQuan, etc etc. If (getting hypothetical) Qemu happened to be ported and running well, think Fallout, Starcraft, Diablo etc.


We've seen a lot of these things on GPH and Dingoo handhelds, always compromised by the low resolution.

Very interesting that at native resolution text would be garbled in the emulators for a few games. :mellow:

 

[Surkow]

This resolution is beneficial because most of the software for OD is already designed for a screen with a resolution of 320x240 pixels. Scaling it to a higher resolution might actually decrease the performance. Not that I mind seeing the device having a better screen than it currently has.

 

[Saber]

Maybe the issue with text and the 320x240 resolution could be a problem solved later on? There's always larger screen devices with higher resolutions if you need every melodramatic byte.

 

[WizardStan]

Very interesting that at native resolution text would be garbled in the emulators for a few games. :mellow:

The Playstation supported resolutions from 256x224 up to 640x480. If the game is using the lower resolution there should be no problem rendering it to a 320x240 screen. I suspect that if people notice enough to actually complain about the fonts on a 320x240 display as if it were normal, that most games run at the 640x480 resolution. That's just a guess though; I've never played a game in emulation that ran at 320x240 so I don't know.

 

[WizardStan]

This resolution is beneficial because most of the software for OD is already designed for a screen with a resolution of 320x240 pixels. Scaling it to a higher resolution might actually decrease the performance. Not that I mind seeing the device having a better screen than it currently has.

Any GPU should be able to do automatic hardware scaling, like the Pandora's OMAP. Render a scene at 320x240 and it is displayed to the 640x480 screen (or 800x480 in the Pandora's case) at no extra cost. Well, a little extra battery cost since it ultimately needs to power 4 times as many pixels, but that's a fairly minor cost compared to everything else in a system.

 

[gcw]

I will talk with hardware devs about changing the lcd screen to a 640x480 or 800x600. Now my next question I'm considering taking deposits for half the value of the GCW Zero and about two weeks from release I will submit a receipt for the balance of the device for 100 lucky people this will be an upgraded model with 512mb of ram versus the standard 256mb the device will ship with. Give me your thoughts on this please???

 

[SNESFAN]

money back guarentee if not shipped in 2 weeks?


I'd be willing to pre-order

 

[gcw]

I would say 3 weeks as it will probably take me a week to box them and ship them out after the two weeks notice and that would be contigent on the remaining balance being paid hehehehehehe....

 

[quartercast]

I will talk with hardware devs about changing the lcd screen to a 640x480 or 800x600. Now my next question I'm considering taking deposits for half the value of the GCW Zero and about two weeks from release I will submit a receipt for the balance of the device for 100 lucky people this will be an upgraded model with 512mb of ram versus the standard 256mb the device will ship with. Give me your thoughts on this please???

256/512MB! OpenDingux is going to have a party, it being used to 32/64MB and all.


How will the 512MB version be supported? Will devs keep that in mind?


Also, where will pre-ordering happen, on the DDUSA website or on the blog? Or via emails?


Cheers

 

[Nintendo]

I would say 3 weeks as it will probably take me a week to box them and ship them out after the two weeks notice and that would be contigent on the remaining balance being paid hehehehehehe....

PayPal option?

 

[vcoleiro1]

I'd like the control's and buttons moved around a bit so that it can be spun around to play vertical shooters, just like you can with the Caanoo.


Is this possible ?